Law school drop-out-turned-flower shop owner Abby Knight has been asked to be a bridesmaid by her cousin. But before the couple says "I do," a groomsman disappears-and another member of the wedding party is found dead. Abby has to hurry down an aisle of suspects to unveil the truth-and make sure the bride still gets to the church on time.

Most helpful customer reviews

This is one of the funniest murder mysteries I have ever read...thoroughly enjoyable...love anything written in the first person, and she's so funny that I thought I wrote it...But I absolutely cracked up and couldn't read for several minutes after the Chapter 11 episode with the pseudo-Psycho scene between Abby and Nikki...what a hoot...or maybe I just have too good an imagination. I recommend this to anyone and everyone..can't wait to read more of her stories.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

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26 reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

Good Cozy MysteryJan. 17 2006

By
drebbles
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback

In this second installment of the increasingly delightful Flower Shop Mysteries, Abby Knight, owner of a struggling flower shop, is not only a bridesmaid in her cousin Jill's upcoming wedding, she is in charge of the flower arrangements, which will bring much needed money into her shop. As if Abby didn't have enough to do, when one of the men in the wedding party disappears and another is murdered, Jill insists that Abby solve the murder. Abby has no choice but to agree (she really needs the money from the wedding) and as she investigates she finds herself surrounded by suspects. Abby also is convinced that there's a prostitution ring in town, so she starts to investigate that as well, thinking the two might be connected. Not everyone is happy with her meddling and Abby needs to solve the case soon before she becomes the next victim.

I liked this book much better than the first one in the series "Mum's The Word". Abby is much more likable and, unlike the first book, her involvement in the murder investigation is understandable. Unfortunately, her "meddling" in the prostitution ring, although a necessary plot point, is not as well explained. And Abby still does some stupid things that strain a reader's patience, like photographing in broad daylight license plates of men that she thinks are visiting the alleged prostitutes. The other characters are well drawn: Marco, the hunky ex-cop is not as much a cliché as in the first book; Grace and Lottie, Abby's coworkers, are delightful; Jill, Abby's cousin, is shallow and stupid, as are much of the wedding party outside of Bertie, whom I'd like to have seen more of. I'd also like to see more of Abby`s roommate, Nikki, perhaps she'll get more involved in solving cases in future books.

There are some minor flaws in this mystery, but there are some nicely humorous scenes (it's worth reading just to see what Abby's mother's latest sculpture is) and I can't wait to read the next one!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

It took a bit to get going, but Abby seems to have the hang of it now...June 11 2006

By
Lizz A. Belle
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback
Verified Purchase

I have all four of these books. I picked up "Mum's the Word" because I was looking for a new mystery series, but I have since stopped looking because I found it. Kate Collins' flower shop mysteries are delightful. Many previous reviewers of "Mum's the Word" found it annoying, but the only thing I've found annoying is Abby's cousin Jillian. I think Collins' characters are delightful. I love that Abby's assitant Grace has a quote for everything, and her mother creates horrid anatomically correct sculptures. I love the descriptions of the flowers and the witty banter of the characters. Overall the best thing about this series is that while we have an abundance of amateur sleuth mysteries, Collins' doesn't use the same old tired, recycled plot lines I have found in many books. I agree that the first one was a little slow going, but the books get better and better as you go. I highly recommend this series.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

very charmingApril 18 2006

By
Henlvr
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Light and fun with appealing characters and some genuine wit. Abby is the owner of a flower shop and is doing the floral decorations for her rich and senseless cousin, Jillian's, wedding. When one of the groomsmen turns up dead and another is missing, Jillian begs Abby to find the culprit so that her wedding can go on as planned. Because Abby will be out of a large sum of money if the wedding does not proceed (a truckload of flowers and a hideous bridesmaid dress) she aggrees. As she snoops for clues, she discovers some other unseemly activity in her small town and becomes a target for some unknown bad guys.

This is a quick, feel-good read, with good pacing and character development. Fans of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum will notice some resemblances, but all for the good.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful

amusing feel good amateur sleuth taleFeb. 26 2005

By
Harriet Klausner
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Abby Knight, the owner of Bloomers Florists in New Chapel Idaho, needs all the business she can get if she doesn't want to lose the store. After flunking out of law school her fiancée broke off with her and she doesn't want to fail a second time which is why she is reluctantly doing the floral arrangements for the wedding of her rich and spoiled cousin Jillian.

Abby is also the bridesmaid in the wedding so her time is stretched pretty thin with no free moments for other activities like solving a homicide involving a member of the wedding party. However, if she wants the wedding to proceed as scheduled so she can collect the money for the floral arrangements, Abby needs to find the killer so she starts questioning the various members of the wedding party from the woman he jilted to the gay groomsman he outed. While she is following up leads, she finds herself trying to prove a prostitution ring is operating in her town and wants to get the evidence that will nab the culprits. These two investigations are linked but by the time Abby figures that out, she is in mortal danger.

In spite of the precarious, hair raising and frightening situations Abby finds herself in, SLAY IT WITH FLOWERS is an upbeat jocular amateur sleuth novel. The protagonist despite what she says likes getting involved in an investigation mainly because she has sexy PI Marco Salvare to rescue her when she finds herself in dangerous situations. Kate Collins has written an uplifting, amusing and feel good amateur sleuth tale.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Stupid Ending....UGH!Oct. 3 2011

By
Dana Y. Banks
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Mass Market Paperback

(MAJOR SPOILER ALERTS!!!) I just finished reading this book and, while, I enjoy a good mystery as much as the next reader, I hate books that end with just "solving the mystery." The author went through all the trouble of creating two other whole story lines about a wedding and a 4th of July celebration and totally neglected to tie up those two stories at the end! Okay, the murder was solved, but what about the other two "back stories." Did Jillian FINALLY get married after standing up numerous guys at the alter? Did the other 4th of July celebration come off since it was scheduled on the same day as the wedding?! What about the romance of Grace?! Ugh! If the author can't follow the 3+ storylines that she created in the book and wrap them up sufficiently for the reader, WHY DID SHE BRING THEM UP! Is this simply a ploy to get us to buy the next book (and the next book). If Ms. Collins is going to bring in 20+ characters and 3+ storylines into each one of these books, she is going to have some frustrated readers on her hands and, eventually, NO READERS! Come on, wrap up the whole book! Sure, we want to know who committed the murder, but if she is going to leave the other stories line in the book hanging with no ending, then what's the point of bringing them up!? Incidenially, I knew who did it once the name "Passion Flower" was brought up. In a small town where everyone is American and (all of a sudden) a Chinese massage parlor opens and then (all of a sudden), the name "Passion Flower" is brought into play, WHO ELSE COULD IT BE BUT SOMEONE FROM THE CHINESE MASSAGE PARLOR! I'm just glad I borrowed this book from the library. It's bad enough when you borrow a book for free & have your intellegence insulted, it's much worse when you pay for the priviledge! Also, the gay storyline....WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT!